Wigan Athletic likely looked at ex-player’s Leeds United, Middlesbrough exploits with frustration: View | OneFootball

Wigan Athletic will look at Adam Forshaw's Leeds and Middlesbrough stints with frustration

After being relegated from the Premier League as FA Cup champions in 2013, Wigan Athletic had hoped for an immediate return to the top-flight.

However, the Latics endured a tough start to the 2013/14 Championship season, and before the turn of the year, then manager Owen Coyle was sacked and replaced by Uwe Rosler.

Legendary Latics boss Roberto Martinez, who took charge of the club's cup triumph, was always going to be a tough act to follow, but Rosler initially fared better than Coyle as he guided the Greater Manchester outfit to a top-six spot at the end of the campaign.

But Wigan would go on to suffer play-off heartbreak, as after drawing 0-0 to Queens Park Rangers in the first leg of their semi-final at the Brick Community Stadium, the Tics would go on to lose 2-1 in extra time at Loftus Road courtesy of a Charlie Austin brace after James Perch had given Rosler's men an early lead.

So it was back to the drawing board for the German manager in the summer of 2014 as he prepared for his first full season in charge of the Latics.

As such, Rosler conducted an extremely busy transfer window, bringing in players such as then Osasuna hotshot Oriol Riera and fellow striker Andy Delort, who has subsequently established himself as a dangerous goalscorer in Ligue 1.

However, neither of these forwards were able to make a positive impact in Greater Manchester, and neither was midfielder Adam Forshaw, who was also signed in the summer of 2014.

Adam Forshaw was a Wigan flop

The midfielder arrived at the Brick Community Stadium with a positive reputation, after establishing himself as a key player for Brentford when the Bees were in League One.

At his best, Forshaw is a tempo-setter in the middle of the park, but he did not show these qualities for the Latics, and made just 17 appearances for Wigan before joining Middlesbrough in January 2015.

And following a 2013/14 League One season in which the Everton academy product scored eight goals for the Bees, he managed just one goal during his time in Greater Manchester.

The most surprising aspect about Forshaw's forgettable stint with the Tics was that he had performed well for Rosler with the Bees prior to the German's move, which the Scouser followed.

Wigan will be jealous of Forshaw's Middlesbrough and Leeds United exploits

After leaving the Latics for Boro in January 2015, the midfielder went on to enjoy Championship success with the Teessiders in 2015/16, as he made 29 league appearances for a side who achieved automatic promotion to the Premier League under the stewardship of former boss Aitor Karanka.

Forshaw then made 34 top-flight appearances for Boro during the subsequent campaign, but could not help his side avoid relegation as he made just one goal contribution in the form of an assist.

But the current Plymouth Argyle man experienced Premier League football yet again with Leeds as he made a combined total of 34 top tier appearances for the Whites, during both the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons, which will have tasted particularly sweet for the ace as injury had forced him to miss the entirety of the impressive 2020/21 season in which the West Yorkshire outfit secured an unlikely top-half spot in the Premier League. He had also sat out large parts of the club's promotion-winning season with injury.

Forshaw has enjoyed promotions from the Championship with both the Whites and Boro, a feat which the Latics would also have hoped the midfielder could have achieved with them in 2015, just two years after their FA Cup victory. He missed games with injury and, particularly at Leeds, he will be remembered for that. However, the history books will show the promotions and success at Leeds and Boro, not Wigan.

However, after the former Everton man joined Boro, the Latics were relegated to League One following an unpredictable, disastrous 2014/15 season and the midfielder's efforts during the first half of the campaign did not help their cause.